“bold” in chapter four verse 13, when the
rulers, elders, and scribes see “the boldness
of Peter and John.” They recognized that
although uneducated men, Peter and
John had been with Jesus. They displayed
boldness to confront the council articulately
with the truth that “there is no other name
under heaven ... by which men must be
saved” but the name of Jesus (Acts 4:12).
When confronted by human authority,
Peter and John did not give in to fear, but
obeyed God rather than man.
Acts also frequently shows Paul and
Barnabas speaking boldly for the cause
of the Gospel. Acts 19:8 describes Paul in
Ephesus by saying, “And he entered the
synagogue and for three months spoke
boldly, reasoning and persuading them
about the kingdom of God.” Fear of men
never stopped Paul fromboldly confronting
the culture of the day with the eternal truth
of God’s grace.
Peter, John, Barnabas, and Paul
skillfully presented truth by reasoning
with others from the Old Testament, as
well as incorporating contemporary poets
and their personal testimony to proclaim
the Gospel to an unbelieving and, at times,
hostile audience. At Cedarville, we train our
students to do the same by equipping them
with a robust, biblical worldview.
Boldness also recognizes that God
has created us all with different gifts and
passions such as engineering, serving,
administering, caring, counseling, writing,
accounting, speaking, performing, or any
number of other talents. While we are all
given different passions, they are all given
toward the same end— to glorify God in all
we do. When you pursue your God-given
passion with excellence, you demonstrate
good stewardship and, ultimately, you
proclaim Christ.
We have a boldness that transcends
Cedarville University. Our boldness flows
from a gracious God with a glorious plan
to reconcile the world to Himself through
Jesus Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice.
That’s how we stay so passionate about our
mission.
Our boldness is rooted inour unflinching
obedience to the Great Commandment
Being bold is not the same thing as
being brash. Brashness has the primary
connotation of being rude, unpleasant,
or harsh. We do not want to be brash.
Rather, we want to be bold for the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. Boldness primarily means
not hesitating in the face of danger, being
courageous, and not afraid. For Cedarville
University, “Be bold” has to be understood
in its biblical context, and would be defined
as: the God-given ability to speak and act
with courage and clarity concerning the
Word of God and Testimony of Jesus Christ
for the glory of God.
Consider the use of “boldness” in the
book of Acts. The book first uses the word
and the Great Commission. As Christ tells
us in Matthew 22:34–40, “all the Law and
the Prophets” depend on the command
to love God with all of our heart, soul,
and mind, as well as the command to
love our neighbor as ourselves. Precisely
because of the demand to love in the Great
Commandment, we have the call to go in
the Great Commission. In love to God and
our neighbor, we must do our part to take
the Gospel to the ends of the earth, a task
that demands the same type of boldness
the apostles displayed in the book of Acts.
Inside this edition of
Cedarville
Magazine
, you will read about members
of the Cedarville family who are boldly
pursuing their passion and proclaiming
Christ in the different vocations He has
given them. For instance, you will read
about one of our former students who has
been standing for the Gospel in Kurdistan
in the midst of ISIS’ invasion of the region.
You will also meet Valerie Huber, who is
boldly standing for God’s call for purity in
the difficult context of the nation’s capital.
We have also provided an overview of our
Religious Freedom Summit, which featured
experts from around the country discussing
boldly standing for religious freedom
against the cultural tide. I hope you enjoy
these stories and the many others we tell in
the pages that follow.
Please keep us in your prayers and
perhaps even send students our way who
would like to join us in this bold Gospel
endeavor of contending for the Word of
God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ.
Thomas White
became Cedarville’s
10th President in 2013. He received his
B.A. from Anderson University (South
Carolina) and both his M.Div. and Ph.D.
from Southeastern Baptist Theological
Seminary.
He is the author and editor of
numerous publications and is a contributor
to
Nelson’s Annual Preacher’s Sourcebook,
Volume 4
, released November 2014.
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Website:
Cedarville Magazine
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